Creation
by Ravenmaid16
Summary: A project for my myth&cosmology class. Details my version of the Vulcan "creation myth". I have no idea what the canon myth is, but I hope you enjoy mine! Reviews much appreciated.


_Vulcan history is highly accurate and factual, due to our people's propensity for logic and comprehensive record-keeping. In addition to our historical records, however, we maintain a cultural history, a compendium of ancient stories and legends told by our forefathers. Though they are now understood to be untrue in fact, their value as windows into the past of our people is high, and therefore these stories are worth preserving. The following is one account of the creation of the world and the subsequent formation of the proto-Vulcan philosophy by Surak._

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In the beginning, there was only an endless expanse of dark sand and no wind, and the sand was motionless in the eternal dark. Then one grain of sand, bigger than the others, began to grow. And when it had become larger than a sehlat, it shed its rough exterior and revealed inside it a man. And he was Ronul. Ronul breathed, and his breath was alight with the fire of his soul. The fire ascended into the sky, where it became the sun. With the wonder of a newborn child, he began to build structures out of the endless sand, and these became stone formations. However, he soon grew tired of being alone, so he set out to wander and find a playmate. He wandered for a long time amidst the hot desert. He was warmed by the sun he had created, but he became too hot and buried it under the sand at the horizon. For awhile things were better, but he soon became chilled, and pulled the sun up again. Thus began the cycle of night and day. Ronul continued to wander, and grew hungry and thirsty, but still he did not stop. Finally, he found another grain of sand that had grown to the correct size, as he had. The rough sand fell away, revealing another man. He was Vulin. As Vulin breathed, his breath was cool with the tempered wisdom of his soul, and it flowed out as water. This water became the first oasis, and the wellspring from which all the other oases obtain their water. Vulin saw that Ronul was hungry and, using some wet sand by the edge of the oasis, created some structures that became plants, the kind that bear fruit that is good to eat. This fruit he offered to Ronul, and he offered him a drink from the water. These Ronul accepted, and ate and drank until he was sated. Soon, having forgotten his hunger and thirst, he desired to go exploring once more, and exhorted Vulin to accompany him. However, Vulin was wise and desired to remain near the oasis, where there was food and water and materials for him to build a shelter. Ronul was angered and attacked Vulin, and it was into this situation that the final grain of sand bore a woman. This woman was Kohlin, and she saw what had happened and immediately went to the two, saying, "Brothers, why do you fight thus?" She knew that the two must achieve balance between their desires, or they would kill each other. So, she suggested that Vulin should make a waterskin out of the leaves of the plants he had created, and that Ronul should take some fruit but not eat it, saving it for later. Thus they could go adventuring together without fear. The two did this, and went adventuring, and Kohlin went with them. Everywhere they stopped, they ate and drank, and where excess water dripped into the sand an oasis sprang up, and where they spat out seeds plants grew in their wake. And eventually they returned to the place where Ronul had been born, with its magnificent stone structures. And here they decided to make their home. After awhile, each desired companionship of another sort. So the worked together. Ronul formed three bodies from the sand, making them tall and strong. Vulin used the water of his soul to turn the sand to flesh. And Kohlin breathed life into them using that mysterious power that only women possess. There were two women and one man in this group, and they became the wives of Vulin and Ronul and the husband of Kohlin. And each had three boy-children and three girl-children, and these intermarried, the girls going to the houses of their husbands, and each couple also had three boys and three girls, and the bloodlines that had started with Ronul, Vulin and Kohlin grew and became clans. These were the first Sel'ra'kahn.

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Time passed, and the children of the Three Primes flourished. They honored their ancestors by emulating their best traits—Ronul's passion and love of life, Vulin's wisdom and practicality, and Kohlin's life-sustaining balance. The children of Ronul were called the Ronul'kahn, and they gave special veneration to their ancestor Ronul and his teachings, but worshipped the other Primes with equal reverence. In the same way, the descendents of Vulin were called the Vulin'kahn, and among them special honor was given to Vulin and his principles. The Kohlin'kahn, people of Kohlin, were concerned with the balance of both peoples. As a result of this, each tribe settled into its place in the community. The Ronul'kahn were the hunters, the warriors, and the brave explorers. The Vulin'kahn were the inventors and the scholars. And the Kohlin'kahn were the spiritual guides, who called upon the Primes to guide the Sel'ra'kahn in times of trouble. Things continued in this way for many years.

When generations had passed, a child was born to Sutokh and R'kau of the Vulin'kahn, and he was named Surak. The signs of his birth were auspicious—he cried three times when he was born, and his fingers were still partially connected, so that his thumb, his index and middle fingers, and his ring and pinky fingers formed three fingers. This would later become a sign of the followers of Surak—to hold the fingers in that manner. As Surak grew, he showed wisdom beyond his years. He became known as a giver of good counsel, and many came to him. At that time, a great unrest was stirring. Some of the Ronul'kahn were beginning to lose themselves in emotion and passion, forgetting the ways of Vulin completely. They caused uneasiness amongst the rest of the Sel'ra'kahn with their recklessness and excessiveness. The people called upon Surak to gain his advice.

Now Surak was wise, but he did not know what to do about this problem. He consulted the high priest of the Kohlin'kahn, and the priest told him that the answers he sought lay beyond the edge of the known world, in the Wildlands of the desert. So he went out beyond the known borders of the Sel'ra, beyond where even the hunters dared to go. He journeyed until he reached the First Oasis. There he fell down upon his knees in thanks to Vulin, who had created the oasis, prostrating himself with his hands stretched out in front of his head forming three fingers with each hand. And when he rose, he saw in front of him a man who was more than a man, greater and more powerful. This was the spirit of Vulin, who had come to Surak upon seeing his devotion and his humility.

Vulin offered to teach Surak the ways of Logic, the true way of Understanding. First, however, he put Surak to the test. He sent Surak out to meditate, but as Surak was ritually preparing, a wild sehlat, the most dangerous of the desert beasts, slavering with hunger, came upon him. Surak, upon seeing the threat, pulled out a knife that he had brought with him in case of danger, and overcame the sehlat, killing it. Then he meditated through the night. When he returned in the morning, Vulin asked him if anything had happened while he was meditating. Surak told him about how he had killed the Sehlat. When he said this, Vulin replied, "You have not yet learned what you must. Tonight, you will have to meditate again. Perhaps then you will become worthy." So that night, Surak went out again, thinking about what he had done wrong. Again he prepared to meditate and again a wild sehlat came upon him. This time Surak, seeking to impress his teacher with a display of cunning, distracted the sehlat by throwing a stone to make a sound behind the beast. Having distracted it, he mercifully cut its throat. He then meditated for the remainder of the night. When he returned in the morning, Vulin again asked him if anything had happened the night before. Surak recounted the story of his cunning defeat of the sehlat. But Vulin again said, "You have not yet learned what you must," and bid him return again to meditate that night. Surak thought very deeply as he was preparing to go out that night and meditate. As he was performing the ritualistic preparations, a sehlat came upon him once again. This time, Surak pulled out some food he had brought with him and tossed it at the animal. It devoured the food, and Surak provided more. When the sehlat had eaten its fill, it approached Surak calmly, with none of the mindless rage it had attacked him with before. Surak's gift had tamed it, and Surak was now its master. He meditated through the night, and returned to the oasis with the sehlat in the morning. This time, when Vulin asked him if anything had happened, Surak told him how he had tamed the sehlat, seeing how it could be more useful as a live companion. At this, Vulin said, "At last, you have become worthy. Come, my student. I will instruct you."

And so for twenty-seven of the long days, Vulin instructed Surak. Surak was a willing pupil and learned all of the teachings that Vulin offered. At the end of the twenty-seven days, Vulin told Surak, "My child, you have learned all I can teach you. You must now comprehend the True Way, which is a journey all men take alone. When you have comprehended this, return to your people. Live long and prosper." So saying, Vulin returned to the spirit world where he had been dwelling with Ronul and Kohlin and all of the ancestors who had passed from this life, and left Surak alone by the oasis.

Surak remained there for a further twenty-seven days, and finally at the end of this time comprehended Kohlin'ar, the Way of Balance, that is, the practice of controlling one's emotions to prevent one from being overwhelmed by passion. Having achieved enlightenment, he returned to Sel'rak in order to begin teaching the Way to others. Many of the Kohlin'kahn, after hearing the teachings of Surak, retreated to a distant place, the mountain Kal'mokh, to further study Kohlin'ar. Surak also went there, after many years instructing the people. Sometimes, a Vulin'kahn seeking enlightenment would journey to Kal'mokh to be taught the deep mysteries of the Way. However, many of the Ronul'kahn were against the teachings of Surak and resisted his attempts to help them achieve enlightenment. These fled to a barren place and formed a separate tribe. Thus was the separation of the children of the Three Primes completed.

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_Based on this myth, the Vulin'kahn were the proto-Vulcans, and the Ronul'kahn were proto-Romulans. However their separation really occurred, the two peoples remained segregated until the development of spaceflight by the Vulcans, at which point the Romulans stole a fleet of ships and set off among the stars in search of a planet of their own. The Kohlin'kahn, supplemented by the occasional proto-Vulcan disciple, refined their Kohlin'ar technique until it eventually evolved into the Kolinahr that we know today, which purges all emotion to make way for logic alone. With the influence of the erstwhile followers of Ronul gone, Vulcans have been free to develop into the scientifically-minded, logical beings we have now become._


End file.
